Turkey season off to cold start

Saturday

Mar 30, 2013 at 12:01 AM

TUSCALOOSA | Author Tom Kelly once joked about a man’s turkey calling prowess saying that he was so proficient he could call the frozen ones from the store right out of the deep freeze. While Kelly was using hyperbole as a literary device, with the weather this year, some turkey hunters feel like that’s what they’ve been doing.

By Robert DeWittOutdoors Writer

TUSCALOOSA | Author Tom Kelly once joked about a man’s turkey calling prowess saying that he was so proficient he could call the frozen ones from the store right out of the deep freeze. While Kelly was using hyperbole as a literary device, with the weather this year, some turkey hunters feel like that’s what they’ve been doing.“They say we’re 8 to 10 degrees colder than normal,” said Ronnie Willingham of Demopolis, an avid turkey hunter and owner of Willingham Sports Inc.Earlier this week, he and a friend hunted on a morning with frost. There was ice in a small bucket that had collected water.“It didn’t bother the turkeys,” he said. “They still gobbled.”But the cold weather makes for fairly slow hunting.“It’s been kind of sporadic,” Willingham said.” The weather is 90 percent of the problem. Last year, we had an early spring and by this time everything was green. Right now, there’s not very much green out there. It’s hard to hide and it’s hard to move.”In addition to the cooler temperatures, it’s also been a wet year so far. Rain made for difficult hunting conditions last weekend. Losing weekend days when people don’t have to work cuts down on the harvest.Standing water and some flooding also make for difficult hunting conditions.“Water is a problem,” Willingham said. “Dollarhide is covered in water. Shady Grove is covered in water. We’ve got water everywhere.”So far, about 15 turkeys have been registered for the turkey contest at Woods and Water in Tuscaloosa, said assistant manager Tyler Haynes. The biggest bird brought in weighed 22 pounds, Haynes said. Beards average 10.5 to 11 inches and spurs are averaging about one inch.The cooler weather seems preferable to last year’s unseasonably warm conditions. Overall, it’s an average start to the year.“This time last year, it was so hot people were saying turkey season was over with before it started,” Haynes said.Turkey hunter Dan Garnand of Eutaw agrees.“This year is a better representation of what an Alabama turkey season is supposed to be like,” Garnand said.Garnand uses a cycle of blooming plants about six to eight weeks long, starting with the flowering of a yulan tree to determine to what stage the season has progressed. The cycle is currently still in its early stages, he said.He observed two groups of 20-plus hens with only a couple of gobblers.“They’re still in winter mode,” he said. “It’s early and they’re still flocked up.”But a slow start is generally what’s expected for turkey season, Garnand said.“Most of them are gobbling up in the trees but they quit once they get on the ground,” Garnand said. “On a case by case deal, you can get one that will really get going.”Hunters have reported the same to Haynes and Willingham.“It seems like there was a really good hatch last year,” Willingham said. “Everybody is seeing plenty of turkeys. They’re not gobbling much after they hit the ground.Willingham has been getting reports from hunters ranging from south Marengo County to north Greene County and from western Sumter County into Perry County. Most are reporting the same thing – lots of turkeys that aren’t gobbling a whole lot. No one is reporting seeing turkey hens sitting on their nests.Both Garnand and Willingham are optimistic about the prospects for later in the season.“I think this year, the last couple of weeks are going to be as good as you can ask for,” Willingham said. “Once the hens go to sitting, that’s when you’ll get those big boys.”Garnand agrees.“I’ve had a few reports of snakes, mostly king snakes and black racers,” he said. “I haven’t seen any turkeys on the nest. I think the best is yet to come.”

Robert DeWitt is outdoors writer for The Tuscaloosa News. Readers can email him at robert.dewitt@tuscaloosanews.com.